A visit with 'The President'

Be certain to visit Tracie at http://fishtailcottage.blogspot.com/ 

and Tootsie at http://www.tootsietime.com/  this week to see more plant postings

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Miscellaneous, etcetera, & this and that...

a particularly attractive dianthus cultivar

For the past several posts I've been peony and siberian iris heavy with a goodly dose of dianthus. The peonies are all but past, but the other two are still going strong so I will share a few more shots of them today. Of course there has been much more going on in the gardens so I'd like to touch on a few of those things today as well. But first...


I've decided to once again try the new Blogger interface, the clean and uncomplicated look of which I much prefer. It is performing much better on this end than the last time I tried it, so I hope it will work well for you as well. In the past some have said they were having difficulty leaving comments. To do so, simply click on the post that interests you, slide to the bottom and click on view comments. Generally you will need to slide the slider to the right down and the "leave comment" form should appear. For other things such as followers, recommended blogs, archives and special postings, there is a black bar at the top right of the home page... click on that to access things such as my post on my stained glass lamp work and examples, etc. Finally, I'd like to thank my followers for doing so, as well as those of you not signed up as followers. Of late there have been an average of 700 page views per post which is very much appreciated and gratifying for me. I am within 4000 page views of hitting the 100,000 page view mark. I was seriously considering discontinuing blogging, but there has been enough feedback that I feel encouraged to continue. I also (after all this talking ) have come to realize that most folks prefer more photos and less information, so in general have been trying to cut back on the printed word as well.

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I used to grow hundreds of lupines until a rhizomatous form of wild thistle from the bordering field infested my lupine area. The only recourse has been the use of round-up but I occasionally get nice lupine plants from seed despite the thistle wars...

lupine

Also noted in the past, we have difficulty with tall bearded German iris and damage by the iris borer, particularly with newer cultivars. One oldie than does do well despite our borer concerns is 'Stepping Out'. I haven't considered chemical measures since a few tall beardeds are plenty for me. We generally get storms when they are in bloom and many will fall over... Stepping Out generally remains vertical fairly well without staking...

Stepping Out with a variety of conifers and others

Recent changes to the rhododendron "glade" give the area a feel of enclosure and a 'garden room' effect... perhaps even a 'rain forest' feel...

'Slam Dunk' is the last of my rhodies to bloom this season

Of course, clematis season has begun and 'The President' is one of my very favorite large flowered cultivars...

The President

The River's Purple european beech is growing amazingly fast this season... there is trouble or at least choices on the horizon as this plant can get huge...

Fagus sylvatica 'River's Purple'

There is all kind of heuchera hybridization going on these days and I really enjoy many of these new plants in the gardens... however, I do have a favorite and that is this very old-fashioned variety and its (literally) all summer bloom in sun or shade...

I have an area in the garden where oriental poppies do fairly well so I pick them up here and there and plop them in... this must be a new one and I didn't retain the name, but the blossom is huge and flounsy...

oriental poppy

This area has very loose soil which works well for poppies

I don't do a lot of roses anymore in the gardens (a part of cutting back on maintenance chores)... however, here are a couple of the Explorer series, William Baffin and Alexander Mackenzie, which I'm retaining for the time being since they are out of the way in this spot...

The Japanese tree lilac is quite old and very slow growing... it is almost to peak bloom stage as it is accompanied by dianthus, weigela, and other perennials near the septic system... (I probably could use a more romantic moniker for this area than 'sewer bed'!)...

As a side note, my wife and I get so frustrated with one another trying to describe where a certain plant is to one another... however, we always know exactly when we mention the 'sewer bed'!

Pinus contorta 'Taylor's Sunburst'

Tiger Eye Sumac

Allium nectaroscordum siculum

My newest intersectional peony acquisition has its first bloom...

Canary Brilliant intersectional peony

There are many self-seeded foxgloves throughout the gardens... this is probably Digitalis excelsior...

Our 'local' peony is called "Tinka Philips" after the daughter of the hybridizer... a somewhat later bloomer, there aren't a lot of these in existence...

Persicaria polymorpha is an herbaceous perennial that makes a major statement without taking over the world...

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In times when flower power is slim, I always appreciate the plants that offer foliage color, texture, and form including perennials that look good even when not blossoming... here are a few examples of that sort of concept in the gardens this week...

The blue of Picea pungens 'Montgomery', green and silvery blue reverse of
Picea 'Howell's Bicolor Dwarf', and a couple favorite large yellow barberrys

Blue spruces, magnolias, hostas and lots of birds

A row of acer griseum,  roses, and Japanese maple

Conifers, hostas, grasses and siberian irises

Conifers and peonies

Variegated maple with conifers, hostas, iris spuria, and peonies

In closing, the siberians are still going strong... take care till next time... Larry

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Siberian season... the next great bloom period

While there are many things in bloom in the gardens just now, siberian irises and dianthus are putting on the biggest show. In the post that follows I'll share photos of both. Since I haven't memorized the names of these plants and I've been working in the garden since 5:30 a.m., I'll forgo the names. (I'm too lazy to go to the garden to check on labels and it's dark now anyway... sorry) 


Speaking of "shovel ready jobs", not that we were, I've totally lost track of how many trailer loads of mulch I've shoveled today... also did some major pruning which I will share at the end of the post. Now... some photos...

I mentioned doing some pruning today. My Mary Potter flowering crab is wider at about 25 feet than it is tall, and I'd like to keep it that way. After a couple of seasons without pruning, it had started to look like a big 'blob' on the landscape. There is simply not enough room in the part of the garden where it grows for blobs... here are the results of removing a truck load of branches and suckers. To my way of thinking, it gives the tree a couple extra seasons with the advantage of being able to see the trunk structure... no longer is it just a week of bloom and fruits in the fall and winter that make the tree valuable to me.

Finally, I want to thank you all for visiting my blog and wish to tell you how much I appreciate your comments as well. I'm sure you are all as busy as my wife and I, and it's difficult to comment on every site I visit as much as I would like to. It seems like after these sixteen hour days in the gardens that there isn't a lot of energy left... what did I do before I retired I often wonder. I still can't believe we've been intensively gardening for two and a half months already this season. Of course a lot of those hours have been spent renovating many areas as I mentioned and showed in the last post. I look forward to having more time for my glass work soon since, as I said the other day, from here on out it will be more maintenance than anything else.
Take care as always, Larry

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